Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš could still survive the most serious challenge to his authority thanks to the weakness of the Social Democrats who are in coalition government with him. The prime minister’s son told investigative reporters that his father had pressured him into leaving the country to avoid police questioning in connection with EU subsidies improperly paid out to the Ptačí hnízdo farm. The farm was originally owned by Babiš’s conglomerate Agrofert, but was allegedly transferred to Babiš Jr. Babiš appears to have found a replacement for the Social Democrats, if they left the government over the growing scandal, as the nationalist PDP has declared itself willing to work with the ruling ANO party if called upon. This leaves the Social Democrats between a rock and a hard place. The worse the scandal gets for Babiš, the weaker they will look for remaining in the coalition. But their current polling is so low at the moment that they can’t risk new elections.
